Captive Hearts
by thatwheelerkid
Summary: The kids aren’t in middle school anymore. Maine isn’t everything Joyce Byers had hoped for. And Eleven is having trouble fitting in at school without Mike by her side. But when El discovers Eight isn’t the only experiment still alive, it sends her on a path to find answers about her past, her now memories, and the future. And most importantly, bring her powers back. xMileven
1. ChapterOne:TheRabbitHole

After watching season 3 for the second time (skipping the last fifteen minutes because my heart couldn't handle that again) I was inspired to write a story about my favorite characters in the entire universe. I'm new to writing for this fandom, so hello fellow stranger fans! I had another account before this one, so I might migrate a few old gems over here that I've rewritten. I really thought I was a good writer at age 14, but I've gotten much better since then. I hope everyone enjoys this first chapter! Fave, follow, and review if you liked it!

_Should I stay or should I go_? The cassette whirred as the tape spun around and around blasting The Clash song until it came to a jarring halt. Jonathan Byers popped the top open and took the cassette out, carefully placing it in the plastic case. He stared down at it for several minutes before finally packing it alongside his other favorite albums. Zipping the bag shut, he tossed it over his shoulders and picked up the boombox by its handles. He looked around the empty room and heaved a big sigh. It was one of those moments where he desperately wished he had more friends. Friends he could crash with for the remainder of the year. Leaving the place he grew up in almost his entire life and the high school he was accustomed to was hard. If you had asked him last year how hard moving would be for him, he might have shrugged and said he didn't care either way. But now he had reasons. Reasons why he wanted to stay and finish out the year.

His mother had none. Too many tragic events had happened in this town, in that house. There were no people holding her back, convincing her to stay. Jonathan honestly wondered if the move would have happened even sooner if Bob were still alive. He wanted to leave more than she did at the time, and that was before he even knew of the Upside Down and the horrors that would eventually kill him.

So here they were, packing up all the records, all the cassettes, Will's crayons, the magnets that stubbornly fell off the fridge time after time that summer. Will was the reason Jonathan knew he couldn't stay in Hawkins. Will needed him. He was already losing his best friends, and he couldn't imagine the horrible PTSD he would probably experience as the days went by. Will wouldn't be in middle school anymore once they got to Maine either. Knowing how reserved and quiet Will tended to be at school, Jonathan was worried he would have trouble making new friends. Mike and the gang had been by his side since kindergarten, and even though Will wouldn't have to endure the cryptic stares in the hallway and the "zombie boy" comments anymore, it would still be hard. Jonathan breathed a sigh of relief. If any fellow students even dared bully Will, he would be ready to come running from his senior class home room to defend him.

At least Will wouldn't be entirely alone. He wasn't the only kid from the AV club moving to Maine. After the horrific events at the Starcourt last July, the Byers had been watching El. When Joyce made the decision to move away and start over somewhere that wouldn't remind them of all the trauma, they knew Eleven would have to come with them. Without Hopper, she didn't really have anywhere else safe to live. She couldn't live at the Wheelers. Mike's parents would never agree to let his girlfriend stay in the same house as him, and there was always the fear that his family would figure out she was that "Russian girl" Mike was warned to stay away from. Max and Lucas' families knew nothing about the Upside Down and the truth about the lab. And neither did Dustin's. So it only made sense for her to stay with the Byers. Joyce knew everything about the situation, and so did Jonathan and Will. The last week of August it was settled. Joyce, Will, and Jonathan would be moving to Maine in less than two weeks, and El was going with them. Far away from the lab that hurt El for over ten years, far away from the source of the monsters, far away from the source of the pain.

Jonathan didn't know Eleven that well. He had interacted with her only a few times after she saved their home from a demogorgon invasion. Eleven didn't know Jonathan and Will that well either. Before she went into hiding at Hopper's cabin, her only interaction with Will was through her visions of him in the Upside Down. And when she finally came back after running away, Will was knocked out from being a host for the Mind Flyer. El voiced concern for Will at times out of the kindness of her heart, but she didn't seem very connected to him. She was however, connected to Joyce a lot more. Perhaps it was her connection to Hopper that brought them a lot closer. After all the tragedies El had to endure, she deserved to finally have a mother figure. Especially after having such a horrible father figure during her early years, and the loss of the only good one she had recently.

The past month Eleven hardly left her room at the Byers place. The only times Jonathan had seen her face was when her door opened just enough to let Mike slip in on his visits, or when Joyce entered her room to calm her screaming from the nightmares. No one bothered to tell her to keep the door open when Mike came. She had been through enough already. Jonathan had also learned that Eleven's powers, the ones that slayed the demodogs, found Will, and closed the gate, were gone. He didn't exactly understand why or how, but he knew that it must be difficult for El to come to terms with. He was glad that it might give her a chance to finally be a normal kid and not have to be in hiding constantly. To him, Eleven was like the superheroes in the comic books he and Will loved to read. He imagined what it would be like to be a superhero and suddenly lose all of your abilities that define who you are. Even though her abilities were the reason why she was kept in captivity by those monsters of men, they were also a huge part of her and her personality.

Jonathan was shaken from his thoughts as he heard the door creak open and a familiar, pretty face peeked in.

"Nancy." he breathed out as she tiptoed in, immediately enveloping him in a tight hug. He could feel the warmth of her flushed face, and the coolness of her tears as they dripped onto his neck. Nothing about this was fair.

Nancy's muffled attempt at speaking was interrupted by her shaky gulps for air. "Jon-Jonathan. Pl-please st-stay. You only ha-have one seme-semester and…"

Jonathan pulled away slightly to look her in the eyes. He pushed a stray hair behind her ear and brought his hand to her face. "I can't."

"But Jonathan…" Her lip was wavering. She bit her lip to try and hold back the tears threatening to burst forth once more."

"I have to go. For Will. He needs me with him." He dragged his hand down her arm until it reached her hand, which he clasped between his own. "But I'll be back soon. We can, we can try to go to college together. Maybe I can come back and get a job in the spring. I just can't go now. If it weren't for Will maybe I'd stay. But I worry about mom too."

"I worry about Joyce too." Nancy wiped her tears on the back of her navy blue coat, smudging the mascara across her cheek. "I don't even understand how she has made it this far. She was still grieving Bob and now…" Nancy let her sentence trail off as they both looked out the window. They watched as Joyce set a box labeled "Christmas Decorations" on the back of the U-haul. Her frown turned upwards into a slight smile as she ruffled Will's hair.

"I think it's for the same reason I have. She keeps going for Will."

_Three weeks earlier_

The void was as dark as ever. It was as silent as ever. Only the slosh of her feet dragging through the puddles of water triggered her ears until all she could hear was a never-ending, low ringing. As far as her eyes could see there was nothing. And it terrified her.

"Mike!" she yelled. "Miiiiike!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. But only the echoes of her voice answered her.

It dragged on like this for minutes, until minutes turned into hours, and hours turned into what seemed like an eternity. And then it finally happened.

She slipped.

And down, down, down the deep abyss she went. She screamed and writhed, stretching her arms up as high as she could, but there was no one there to grab them.

She kept falling until she hit an abrupt stop. Her eyes snapped open and she propped herself up on her back by her elbows, taking in her surroundings. The hallway was dark minus the flickering light behind her. It was coming from behind a door at the end of the hall. Eleven stood on her feet and slowly made her way to the source. She reached out her hand to grab the doorknob, but the door swung open on its own. A wave of confusion washed across her face, then quickly morphed into terror as she witnessed the horrific figure in front of her.

"Papa?" she whimpered. Then in an instant his face melted away. El screamed and suddenly she was falling again, everything vanishing like quicksand in a time glass.

She was in the void again, but this time she saw a figure running towards her. As she stumbled closer she could make out that it was the Wheeler boy. He looked deathly afraid.

"Mike! Miiiike!" she yelled.

"El!!! You have to run!!! They're coming!!!" he called out to her.

There was nothing but darkness surrounding them. Eleven began to run. The gap between them was closing. She was ready to save him from whatever threatened to hurt the only person left that she loved.

But when she reached out for his arm, his figure vanished like a fog lifting from a field. El screamed, her voice nearly cracking. She fell with a thud and everything turned to darkness again.

Except for one sliver of light behind her.

The wind knocked out of her, she could barely stand. She dragged herself towards the light, reaching her hand out towards it as far as it could go.

Then suddenly everything began to shake like an earthquake. The light dimmed as the sliver it was peeking through fused together, leaving El in the dark as everything around her violently shook. She could hear her name being called out from every direction. Eleven brought both of her hands to her head and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Eleven wake up sweetie!" Joyce Byers was shaking the poor girl's shoulders to wake her. El's eyes shot open. Tears were flooding her face, and Joyce brushed the hair off her forehead.

"I think you had a nightmare." she explained softly to the teen beside her.

Eleven looked around her room, now brightly lit by the sun rising outside the window. Her eyes landed on the supercom laying just within reach of her left hand. The antenna still extended, the radio emitted waves of static from its speakers. El sat up straight.

"Something's wrong." She tried to stand up on her feet, but Joyce laid her hand on Eleven's shoulders.

"What's wrong dear?" she said with an air of concern, feeling her forehead for any signs of sickness like she always did with Will.

"Not me. Mike." Eleven's breathing increased rapidly, and she bolted out of the room, grabbing her supercom in the process.

"Mike?" she spoke into the radio. "Mike are you there?" Nothing but static. She picked up her pace as she neared the front door, Joyce on her tail. "MIKE!"

She flicked her head to the right to open the door but nothing happened. Then she remembered. As her sobbing increased she fumbled with the lock and clumsily tried to open the door. She fell to her knees in desperation. Suddenly she heard Mike's voice come through the static.

"El? El are you alright? I'm right here I just woke up!"

"MIKE!" She yelled. "I'm coming!"

"What do you mean? Is something wrong?" Joyce could hear the confusion his voice. She tried to take the supercom from her hands to speak to Mike but El wouldn't let her. She bent down to her level and spoke into it, her face nearly touching the wood floors.

"Mike, this is Joyce. El just woke up. I think she had a nightmare or flashbacks of some sort. She usually wakes up asking for you…." Everything turned to static again as El tried to take radio back. "This is a bit more, I don't know, extreme today?" Joyce tried to explain using hand motions, although Mike couldn't see them anyway.

"Mike's in trouble! He needs us!" El was whining to Joyce through sobs.

"El I'm fine! Nothing is wrong! You…you had a bad dream is all!"

"No! It's real! You're not safe!" El screamed. Joyce ran her hands through her hair widened with panic on how to calm down the girl. She heard Will's voice behind her asking questions but she didn't pay attention to what her son was saying.

"El calm down! It's going to be okay. I'm coming over right now!" El was shaking from crying at this point and slumped over next to the table behind her.

She wiped her nose with her arm and looked down. There was no blood.

Will's fork scraped against his plate as he cleaned up every last bit of syrup. Mike chugged down the last of the orange juice, then turned to look at El. It had been close to an hour since her meltdown, and she seemed rather quiet. She had barely eaten even one of her Eggos, even though they were topped with extra cool whip and chocolate sauce, courtesy of Joyce.

"Hey El, do you want to go to your room?" Mike whispered. El simply nodded and pushed her plate away.

Joyce looked at them with a sad face as she stood by the kitchen window, drinking her morning coffee. She was grateful for Mike. He seemed to be the only one who could truly connect with Eleven and make her feel better. She watched as the two disappeared around the corner, El carefully taking Mike's pinky in her hand. Joyce sighed and turned to wash the pile of dishes.

Mike shut the door with a _click _behind him and wandered over to where El was sitting on her bed, legs crossed under her. He sat down beside her and draped his arm over her shoulder. She looked up at him with pitiful eyes, then buried her face in his chest. Mike gently set his chin on the top of her head and wrapped El in a tight embrace. They sat there for several minutes before Mike broke the silence.

"Do you…do you want to talk about what happened? We don't have to. Only if you really want to." El shifted her face away from his chest and leaned against his shoulder. "I want to make you feel better, but I don't know what's bothering you."

"Bothering?" El asked.

Mike realized it must be another word she never encountered since her escape from the lab. "It's like when something makes you, you know feel upset."

"Upset." She said aloud.

"I know I've been a really shitty boyfriend. Lying and such, but I want to get better. I want to help you El. Comfort you. If you want me to that is. If you don't that's fine too I just I don't know…"

"Mike." El had turned to face him. She placed her hand on his cheek, and he reached up to meet her hand with his. They gazed into each other's eyes, moving closer and closer and closer…

A knock at the door interrupted them. "Mike are you in there?" It was Will.

"God dammit." Mike breathed. He turned towards the door and yelled "We're busy come back later!!!"

"It's Lucas! He's on the supercom!"

Mike rolled his eyes "What does he want?"

"He said he's at your house with Max! Do you want him to come here?" Will yelled back.

Mike would roll his eyes harder if he could. "Uh, yeah! Yeah that's fine!" He turned back to El. "Okay we've got like fifteen minutes of…hopefully…alone time until they get here."

A slight smile returned to her face for a split second before it changed to a frown once more.

"Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"I had a dream. The bad kind. Bad people were there."

"I know. Mrs. Byers told me. But don't worry El. It's a dream – dreams can't hurt us!"

"But it wasn't a dream Mike. It was real. Like when I visit people." She fiddled her thumbs around and around as she looked up at the boy.

"What do you mean?" Mike furrowed his brows in confusion. Then it dawned on him. "Oh, you mean when you use the T.V. and you spy on people?"

"Yeah, like that. You were there. You were running. And then you were…you were…" The tears began welling up on her eyes again, "…gone." She could barely mouth the word before she buried her face in his neck again.

"Aw El I'm right here. I'm okay!" El looked up at him with teary eyes.

"Mike, when I ran away to find mama, my sister…I saw you. When I was spying. You said something about a trap. And Hopper…" El was uncontrollably shaking at his point. "You were…you were in tr-trouble. I ha-had to come home. I had to save you."

"El…"

"Dream…was like that…" El rubbed her eyes over and over again with her sleeve but fresh tears kept escaping.

"But I'm okay. You weren't watching me. It wasn't actually happening! I'm safe!" Mike kept reassuring Eleven.

"It feels real. I'm confused." El muffled into Mike's jacket.

"What was I running from?" Mike asked.

"I don't know. You said…they're coming." Eleven paused. "I saw Papa."

"Papa?" Mike's eyes widened. "You mean, Dr. Brenner? The bad men?"

"Yes." Eleven suddenly stood up and walked across the room. "Let's talk about something else."

Mike turned around to face El, "Okay then. What do you want to talk about?"

El set the needle on the record player on her dresser. "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by the Scorpions began playing through the speakers. She joined Mike on her bed again.

Caught off guard by El's sudden movements, all Mike could muster was "This is a good song," before her lips found his. He quickly moved his hands to the back of her head and settled into the rhythm of their typical make out session. It had been so long since they connected in this way, and he didn't want it to end.

It was a way of escape. Escape from the tragedy that had become their normal lives. Who would live? Who would die next? Who was…safe? Mike couldn't bear the thought of anything bad happening to El. He almost lost her twice now. And he understood what she must feel about him being in danger. He just wished there was some way he could help soothe the pain of losing Hopper and end the nightmares. But he guessed this was as good as he was going to get. He broke away slightly to mouth the words of the chorus, and El tried to stop him by covering his mouth with her hands, giggling. Anything to make her happy. Anything to make her smile, even if just for a little bit. How he longed to go back to June, when they were just happy littles birds, learning to love and enjoying a sense of normalcy.

Eleven leaned back in to Mike and pecked him on the lips once more. They gazed into each other's eyes and their noses bumped into one another. She giggled again.

And that ritual continued almost every day that August. Will hated it. Lucas and Max rolled their eyes. Jonathan wasn't even glued to Nancy as much as they were. Dustin was honestly too busy radioing Suzie all summer to give notice.

But then August 29th rolled around. Everything was about to change, and not even Mike and Eleven were ready to face what was to come.


	2. ChapterTwo:ThePillowFort

**Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the reviews and follows! I'm glad you all are enjoying the story so far! Here is chapter two... **

"We're…_moving?_" Will couldn't believe the words that just came out his mother's mouth.

Joyce's expression melded into one of pity and sorrow as Will processed the news. She knew none of this would go over well. In fact, she still wasn't entirely sure that she had made the right decision. Hopper wasn't there anymore to lean on, to coax her into one decision or the other. Most of the time it was her blowing him off or shaking her head at his defiant stupidity in raising a teenager or trying to save the day. Today she wished more than ever that he was still here, giving her one reason to stay.

But that reason was now gone.

Will frantically looked around him and then back at his mother. "We can't just…leave."

"I know honey. It's just not safe here anymore. I'm living constantly in…_fear._ I almost lost you three times. _Three _times Will. _Three._ You're the one who had to experience the bulk of the trauma these past two years. You know that…" Joyce explained as calmly and softly as she could. "Don't you want to move far away from everything that hurt you?"

Will looked at his mom in disbelief. "No mom, I never thought to move away, because my friends are here. It doesn't matter what happens, if the mind flayer comes back, because I won't be alone!"

"Will…" Joyce fiddled her thumbs in frustration, trying to come up with her next words that might convince her child that her decision was in his best interests. She felt helpless, like when Hopper needed her to write that speech for Eleven. Except she was Hopper in this case, and _she_ needed someone to write out her thoughts for _her. _

Will had already stormed off to his room and slammed the door. A plate shifted in the drying rack on the kitchen counter from the force. Joyce dug the end of her cigarette into the ash tray and brushed her hand through her bangs in frustration. When she looked up again her eyes were met by her oldest son.

"Mom…"

Joyce threw her hand up. "Don't mom me right now." She proceeded to get up and stumble towards the kitchen.

"Mom do you really think that this is the answer?" Jonathan questioned his mother.

Joyce began scrubbing the dishes in the sink, "Well what am I supposed to do? Wait around for the next monster from the Upside Down to show up and hurt my sons?" her hands were animated as usual as she juggled the task at hand and explaining herself to Jonathan.

"Mom they're gone. The gate is closed. You saw it with your own eyes. If it weren't for the Russians the gate would have stayed closed since last winter and we wouldn't have even dealt with it the third time!"

Joyce turned to look at him. "Yeah, well if it weren't for _our _government, none of this would have happened in the first place. And we don't know, god we don't know if everything is shut down for good. What if, what if our government is conspiring _with_ the Russians? How did we know they didn't just cover their tracks again and moved their operations to another secret location so they can continue their weapon making at our expense!" Joyce's voice rose at the word cover. She tossed the kitchen towel back on the counter and made her way into the living room, Jonathan at her tail.

"Exactly mom. There are probably far worse things happening elsewhere. Outside of Hawkins. Where we could end up." He stomped his foot in frustration.

"And staying here, where we _know_ _for sure _bad things could happen is _better?" _Joyce argued.

"Yeah! It is!" Jonathan spat back. "It's my senior year of high school. It's Will's first year of high school. And you think tearing him away from his friends after everything _he's _been through is the best decision?"

"I know, I don't like it either. But I'm doing this because I want to _protect_ you. Bob is DEAD. Hopper is DEAD because of _this town_. Who's next? You? Will again? What about Eleven?" Joyce threw her hands in the air.

Jonathan stared hard at his mother. "No. No. You're not doing this for us. You're doing this for _you _and your _selfish_ reasons again. Just because the people_ you_ cared about are gone doesn't mean you can rip us away from ours!"

"Oh so I'm the bad guy now?" she pulled the chair out from under the table with a _screech_ and huffed as she sat down.

Jonathan turned to leave the dining room, and yelled over his shoulder, "Yeah well next time the world starts falling apart, don't come begging me to save you because Will's friends, Eleven's powers, and Hopper aren't there to save your ass!"

"Jonathan!" Joyce yelled at her son, but it was no use. He had already slammed his bedroom door and started blasting his latest mixtape.

Joyce sat with her head in her hands. After a few moments she grabbed the cigarette box on the table and fumbled around until one slid out. She flicked the lighter several times until the flame burst forth. After lighting the cig, she brought it to her mouth, coughing a few times after inhaling. As she smoked, Joyce stared out the kitchen window through the streaks of rain droplets on the screen. She stared at the pile of wood in front of the porch that used to be Castle Byers, before Will tore it down in rage. She stared at her trusty, jade car, littered with scratches and dings from the rocks she kicked up off the pavement from speeding around town. She stared at the deep tire marks in the mud as they filled with rainwater. The deep tire marks from the Hawkins police jeep that Hopper drove over for every single one of her late night emergency calls.

"After Sarah, it was time to get the hell out of that place." Hopper gruffed as he sat down on the concrete floor of the lab beside Joyce. He rambled on about why he left and the pain of his loss. This was the night he had confronted her about moving away from Hawkins.

"Then why'd you think I ended up back in this shithole?" Hopper asked her. Joyce looked at him intently.

"You have something I didn't have. You have people that know what you've been through.

People that care about you," Hopper's lips turned upwards slightly.

"Right here. In Hawkins."

Hopper faded away as Joyce returned to reality from zoning out. A single tear escaped her eyes. Her lips quivered as she took the cigarette out of her mouth and snuffed it out in the ash tray. She slammed her head on the table, her shoulders shaking from grief.

Rain pattered on the windowsill. Every drop ran down the glass in streaks like the tears flowing from her eyes. She never felt more alone and alienated than in that moment. Not even when Lonnie left. Not even when Bob was gone. Not even when Will went missing.

"Hopper…" she sniffed.

It was a Friday night. As Joyce wallowed in her sorrows, the clock on the wall whirred and struck seven o'clock.

————————————————-

It was a perfect evening for creating pillow forts in the Wheeler's basement. Mike had finally acquired Return of the Jedi on VHS, and Lucas had radioed in the crew for a movie night. Max rolled her eyes and mouthed "nerds" to El when she first arrived. El didn't really care either way. If it meant spending even longer with Mike, she was in. Going home wasn't much of an option because of the storm, and the Byers residence just meant another sleepless night filled with nightmares.

"Will do you copy?" Lucas spoke into the supercom for the millionth time.

Max groaned. "He's probably out with Jonathan or something, remember? He was supposed to take him back to school shopping?" She ducked her head and gave him the stare.

"At 7:30pm in _this_ weather?" Lucas talked back. He pressed the button on the side of the device and started talking into it again.

Max threw her arms up and to her sides. "Lucas come on!"

"Yeah Lucas we'll catch him next time," Dustin chimed in, "Besides my mom said I've gotta be home at 9:30 today so we need to get started."

"Alright fine." Lucas shoved the antennae back into the supercom and plopped down on the blue couch, Max joining him. Dustin hit the play button on the remote and immediately started shoving popcorn in his mouth.

Mike hopped down off the stairs from grabbing snacks from the kitchen and walked over to where El was getting comfortable in their fort. He crawled underneath the blanketed roof and sat next to his girlfriend, who looked up at him with a smile. He smiled back and held up the package of Skittles in his hand. "Want some?" he asked.

"Of course." El held out her hand as Mike poured a handful of the colorful candies into her palm. He popped one into his mouth.

El chewed the sour candy as she watched Lucas tossing mms into his girlfriend's mouth. She cocked her head at the sight and turned to face Mike.

"Mike?" she asked.

"Yeah, El?"

"I want to try that."

"Try what?" he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"That," she replied, nodding her head towards Lucas and Max.

"Oh. Yeah, sure! Just…just be careful not to choke."

"I won't." El scooted herself to the edge of the fort to give Mike enough room to toss the candies into her mouth. She giggled as she missed the first few tries. Finally a lime green one made it which made El laugh even harder. Mike smiled as they continued the play the game, everyone ignoring the beginning of the movie.

Except for Dustin.

"Man, why does Suzie have to live like a million miles away," he blurted out. "I guess I know what it feels like to be Will."

"Sorry man that sucks." Lucas replied, "This isn't a couples game though. Open up!" he lifted up his arm, ready to toss a candy up in the air.

"Game on Lucas!"

Mike was staring at Eleven out of the corner of his eye. She was watching the movie intently now, her eyes fascinated with the all of the effects. Mike couldn't help but sigh.

The past few weeks had been troubling for him and his emotions. It was like he was being tugged in different directions. Part of him was wondering what he and El even were, the other half just wanted to pretend the break up never happened and carry on like normal. No one has time to stop and think about the future when your whole world has been turned upside down. Literally in a sense.

Eleven needed him more than ever now. Whether or not the two of them had verbally agreed to be together again, El had gone back to being super clingy and desperate for his love and attention. Losing her only real parental figure had taken a huge toll on her, and Mike didn't blame her for wanting to be with him every second of the day. He was one of the few people left that El has ever bonded with. And he missed Hopper too. Even though he had be a real dick towards him, he was grateful for all that the Hawkins police chief had done to help the crew over the past two years.

He was also happy that Eleven might be able to come to school with him this year. At least he hoped so. He knew that Hopper at been teaching her at home the past year, and she had come along way. Socially too, thanks to Max. _And also no thanks to Max_, he thought. He was pretty sure "I dump your ass" didn't come from Hopper. But he didn't blame Eleven. He had promised her that friends don't lie, and he had definitely fricked that up.

Eleven was finally going to have the chance to be a normal girl, and not some lab experiment being harnessed for her deadly powers. However, Mike knew she was depressed because her powers, the ones she's used to her advantage all of her life until now, were gone. It was a blessing in disguise because Joyce wouldn't have to worry about her exposing her true origins. But Mike knew deep down that Eleven wouldn't be happy without them. And he hated seeing her upset. Like she was now.

Eleven was staring at the box labeled "garage sale" beside the fort. It was filled with plastic dinosaurs, toys, and old puzzles that Mike no longer played with. El rose to her feet and slowly approached the box. She peered in and her eyes landed on the toy spacecraft that was blasting between worlds on the screen behind her. She reached in and picked it up with her two hands, running her figures across its plastic surface.

"You remember that?" Mike asked, "You were sitting in the fort right behind us when I showed it to you for the first time."

"Yes. I remember," she whispered. She set the spaceship back in the box and stepped backwards. She lowered her head and focused on the object intently. Mike realized what she was doing.

"Hey," Mike grabbed his girlfriend's arm, "You should rest. You won't be able to recharge if you keep trying to use them." He led her back to their comfy spot under the table.

El leaned into Mike's shoulder. "Mike?"

"Yeah, El?"

"What if, what if they don't? Come back?"

"They will. They'll come back. I know they will. Trust me." But even Mike wasn't sure how true his words were.

"Mike, there's something else." She reached for his hand and clasped it in hers.

"Remember when you were at the mall? And I said I dumped your ass?"

Oh Mike sure did remember. How could anyone forget? In the moment El was referring to, he was bewildered and offended, mixed with a tinge of anger.

"Yeah how could I forget? That's burned into the back of brain forever."

El smiled and rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "Can you be…not-dumped?"

Mike smiled, "You mean you want to get back together?"

"Yes. Boyfriend and girlfriend again. I…I missed you. Us." She reached up and touched the side of his cheek with her hand.

This was the part where Mike became fully entranced with El. The sound of Dustin's laughter faded into the background. He no longer heard the clashing of lightsabers and the raspy sounds of Darth Vader. He only saw the glistening in El's eyes as he tried to read her emotions. He felt the distance between them slowly closing. This wasn't the first time he felt this sensation. He felt it when he told El she was pretty for the first time. He felt it when he was in the cafeteria with El, trying to express his feelings to her. He felt it when he stood on the Byers porch, telling El to stay safe before she left to close the gate. He felt it on the dance floor at the snow ball. He felt it when he yanked El into his arms after the demogorgon was defeated in the Starcourt Mall. He felt it every time she looked up at him and smiled.

He felt it now as El's lips met his own. She ran her hands through his fluffy hair as he tasted the sour lime candy flavoring on her lips. He puckered his lips slightly at this, and he could feel the edges of hers turn upwards at the reaction.

"Ew gross Mike and El are swapping spit again." Lucas announced from his spot on the couch. The end credits were beginning to roll.

Mike broke away from El just long enough to give Lucas the biggest death stare. Dustin was stuffing his belongings into his backpack and swung it across his shoulder.

"Okey-dokey lovebirds. I will see you guys tomorrow at 3 o'clock sharp at the arcade. Over and out," he saluted the two before running up the stairs.

Lucas and Max stood up from the couch and made their way towards the stairs. "I'm gonna peace out too," said Lucas. "I promised Max I'd give her a ride home in my moms car."

"Lucas what? You? Driving? Are you crazy?" Mike squinted at him with an even more confused and annoyed look.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Mike, no! My _mom _is driving, not _me _you dumbass_."_

_"_Goodnight El!" Max waved at her friend and shoved Lucas up the stairs.

As soon as Mike heard the door shut upstairs, he whipped around to face Eleven. "Finally, we have the basement to ourselves again."

Eleven smiled and planted her lips on his again. They made out for at least a minute before a sort of groan escaped from El's mouth and she quickly separated herself from Mike, wincing.

Mike set into a panic. _Shit, shit, shit. Oh no, no, no, no, no. _He didn't need this. Not now. Not what he thought just happened. "I'm so sorry El, did I do something wrong? We should've stopped. I…"

But El was grabbing her lower leg. She was groaning in pain.

"Oh, _oh._ Your leg. Is it okay? I didn't hurt you did I?" Mike looked at her with concern. He knew the wound from the mind flayer's bite was still in the process of healing.

"I'm…I'm fine Mike," she said as she shifted her legs into a different position.

"Are you sure?" He reached out to hold her arm. "Do you need another bandage on it? It's not getting infected again is it? Do you want ice?"

"Mike," El butted in, "I'm okay. Really. I am."

Mike nodded his head. "Okay, if you're sure."

Eleven smiled, "So, where were we?" She brought both of her arms around his neck. Mike mirrored her movements and wrapped his around the small of her back.

Just then the basement phone rang. Mike huffed and stood up to go answer it. Maybe Lucas forgot his supercom again. Or Nancy was calling him from her room to ask for some stupid favor. But it was neither of those.

"Hello?" Mike answered.

"Hi Mike, this is Joyce. I'm here outside to pick up El."

Now it was Mike's turn to groan.


End file.
